The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-06-21
MEXICO'S LOST WEALTH.
The Long-Practiced Custom of Burying Gold
and silver Coin-Flipper Talks.

The Long-Practiced Custom of Burying Gold
and Silver Coin-Fiipper Talks.
Correspondence st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Lieutenant Flipper, formerly OF the United
States army, whose land explorations in Mexico
for several years past have enabled him to col
lect much valuable information about the people
and the country, recently told some interesting
things about this custom of burying coin.
81 have found very few places in Mexico" said
the Lieutenant, (which could not furnish sew
eral traditions of hidden treasure. This is q
great country for traditions. Much of the his
tory of Mexico is tradition. The churches
abound in traditions. Everyone of the old mines
has some tradition connected with It. But be-
lieve that of all the varieties of tradition that
relating to hidden treasure is the most common
I'm many Mexican towns. continued continued the
plemented by documents. Those papers
called itineraries They purport to describe and
locate the places where fortunes have been bur
led. Many a long and weary search has been
made on the strength of these Itineraries and
with varying success"
DO you recall any particular search? was
asked
Yes" said Lieutenant Flipper, ga Mr.. Salazar
in Cusihuiriachi, chihuahua, is the happy pos
SCISSOR Of numerous documents of this kind
Some of them were sent to him from Spain by
persons who had inherited them from Mexican
relatives. The Mexicans bad died in Spain, and
the papers were among their effects Mr. Saa-
Ear had made something OF = specially of follow
ing up these cews. remember one instance of
which he told me- He said he searched i'll the
place indicated by the itinerario and was re-
warded by finding eleven old Spanish coins, thus
establishing the fact that there was some foun-
dation for the itinerario The bag or box in
which the treasure was originally buried had
rotted away entirely. SO great a time had
elapsed. and it is quite possible many of the
coins had 'crawled' away"
The Lieutenant smiled with his listener at the
theory he had advanced but he went to say:
''This crawling of buried coins is not extra
ordinary as you may think. 1t happened In the
people who buried their treasures upon the ap-
proach of the federal army can testify. My
father buried quite q sum OF gold and silver in
stocking in Atlanta during 1865, and when he
dug for his money. several months later, the
stocking had entirely disappeared, and the coins
scattered over space Of considerable
extent, comparatively speaking. They had
'crawled even in a few months. In century
or two they might have gone a much greater
distance"
Replying to the inquiry il he had ever known
of any considerable hidden treasure being found,
Lieutenant Flipper told this good story: "a few
years ago poor family living in the town of
Saric. in Sonora. stumbled upon buried fort
une beneath their own jacal or hovel, and the
members are now enjoying independence in con-
sequence The floors of most of those jacals
made of the same mud from which the adobes
forming the walls nodded. The Quirogas-
the family OF whom 1 am telling you-were hav-
ing the floor of their house repaired, and had
employed peon. He was engaged in doing some
digging fix the foundation for the floor,
when Sonora Quiroga came into the room
to call him to dinner. just she APP
preached him she heard his pick strike
something hard and her suspicious were aroused
She sent the peon off and called in one OF her
sons, who in a few moments uncovered jar in
which the coin inelec. When the Quirogas got
through counting the treasure thay found that
they had $4,000. The news was too good to
keep. Soon the whole village knew and envied
Among the first to come with congratulations
was the priest. and he suggested that good
percentage go to the church. To this the OUR
ocas turned deaf ear. Then the priest threat
eued them with Imprisonment in this world and
damnation in the next The Quirogns fed the
country, taking with them all of the none.
They now live In Noeaies, Ariz., and are GOOD
American citizens The sons are doing we'll as
merchants, the discovered treasure having sup
piled the capital to start them"